Southern California -- this just in

Special-needs student left behind on Manteca school bus

June 19, 2012 | 8:02
am

An incident in which a special-needs student was left behind on her school bus in the Central Valley town of Manteca instead of being dropped off at school is serving as a wake-up call for all bus drivers in the district, an official says.

The incident occurred June 5 when a bus driver got to the Manteca Unified School District bus yard after completing her morning route.

“The student was brought back into the yard on her bus; apparently she had fallen asleep, and she was not visible to the bus driver,” Assistant Supt. Don Halseth told Fox 40 in Sacramento.

Halseth said the girl was on the bus for about an hour when a maintenance worker discovered her. He said the girl wasn’t injured by her ordeal; her parents were notified, and she was taken back to her class.

“The bus driver was very concerned,” Halseth said of the woman, who is a veteran bus driver for the district.

He said the driver would not lose her job. Manteca Unified School District has a policy that bus drivers do a final check of their seats to make certain no one is left aboard when they shut down.

“It’s a real good wake-up call, not only for this driver, but for all our bus drivers,” Halseth said.